This invention relates to a socket type electrical connector having electrical contacts for providing electrical connections between printed circuits and respective connector pins and more particularly relates to such a connector having stress-free connections between contacts and printed circuits. Moreover, the invention is directed to such an electrical connector which is easily adaptable for use with connector pins of various sizes.
A problem with prior art connector contacts soldered to printed circuit boards or the like to facilitate electrically coupling circuits on the latter to an external connector pin array, for example, in a male connector forming part of a cable termination assembly, is the often occurring stress on the solder joints tending to enhance solder creep. Solder creep is the tendency of solder to flow even after having solidified, and such flowing can eventually allow the contact to become free from the circuit to which it is soldered resulting in an open circuit condition or other connection failure. The forces on the solder joint may be either linear, which occur as a male connector pin first abuts the female contact, or tensile, which occur as the male connector pin causes the female contact to deform often causing the soldered portion of the latter to tend to lift from the circuit to which it is soldered. Moreover, some prior art deformable connector contacts are limited in their range of deformations over which they can be used without damaging the same, and, therefore, are similarly limited in the size and/or spacing parameters of connector pins to be accommodated.